PRISON ETHICSChapter 16 JCE
From last class…. to this classPrisoners interact with corrupt practices in prison: both systemic (solitary) and personal (guards).
Prisons themselves have significant disconcerting conditions and aspects
Prison Ethics: The Who and What
Most incarcerated are non-violent offenders (<9% inmates in Federal)
Disproportionate minorities (5 to 7 times more likely for African Americans.)
Prisoners deprived of “safe, lawful, industrious, and hopeful conditions (305).”
Poor treatment for mental illness. Slave labor (Chain gangs in Alabama are
~80% African American) Elderly prisoners (55+) constitute ~10% Women prisoners constitute ~7% “For profit” prisons rising to ~16% Overcrowded prisons (15 states at or above
capacity)
“For profit” prisons rising to ~16%
For-Profit Prisons: Theoretically problematic
Like any profit-driven business, prisons invest in efficient means of incarceration rather than “correction” or even “retribution.”
For-Profit Prisons: Theoretically problematic
1) Ethically, prisons are either for retribution (deontology), correction (utilitarian), incarceration (police sub-culture), or restoration (care ethics).
2) For-profit prisons are for profit.3) Thus, for-profit prisons are not ethical.
For-Profit Prisons: Theoretical Response
~2) For-profit prisons are for incarceration.
Public prisons are woefully overcrowded and expensive. Private prisons provide a system for warehousing prisoners (e.g. private storage).
For-Profit Prisons: Theoretically problematic?
Rebuttals to the “incarceration” response???
Do “for-profit” prisons fit police sub-culture ethics?